Reflections  on  the 
tion  of  the 
present  system 
of  education. 


Christopher  c.  Andrews 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


REFLECTIONS 


THE   OPERATION 


PRESENT  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION. 


CHRISTOPHER   C.,  ANDREW?, 


COUNSELLOR.    AT    L\\\. 


BOSTON: 

BY,    NICHOLS,    AND    COMPANY 

111,    tt  .~TREET. 

1853. 


REFLECTIONS 


THE   OPERATION 


PRESENT  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION. 


BY 


CHRISTOPHER  0.   ANDREWS, 


COUNSELLOR  AT  LAW. 


"  TRAIN  UP  A  CHILD  IN  THE  WAT  HE  SHOULD  00 ;    AND,  WHEN  HE  IS  OLD,  HE  WILL  NOT 
DEPART  FROM  IT." 


BOSTON: 

CROSBY,    NICHOLS,    AND    COMPANY, 

111,  WASHINGTON  STREET. 

1853. 


BOSTON: 
PKINTBD   BT   JOHN   "WILSON   AND   SON, 

22,  SCHOOL  STEEKT. 


Education 
Library 


PREFATORY    NOTE. 


T 


;j  THE  increasing  importance  of  the  subject  treated  of  has  led  the 
author  to  revise  an  article,  published  nearly  two  years  ago  in  a 
monthly  journal,  and  to  present  it  in  the  following  pages.  His 
object  is  to  call  attention  to  what  he  regards  a  defect  in  the  opera- 
tion of  our  present  system  of  education,  and  to  propose  some 
suggestions  for  its  remedy.  That  defect  consists  in  the  want  of 
moral  instruction  in  our  schools.  Its  existence,  he  believes,  may 

be  attributed  to  the  state  of  public  opinion,  rather  than  to  any 

o 

M  imperfection  in  the  system  itself.    For  this  reason,  he  is  of  opinion 

C^ 

5  that  remarks  on  the  subject  are  more  necessary,  and  therefore 

E> 

D  worthier  of  the  consideration  and  indulgence  of  the  public. 

? 

(O          35,  COURT  STKEET,  BOSTON, 

e»  May,  1853. 


414898 


INCOMPLETE    OPERATION 


PRESENT   SYSTEM   OF   EDUCATION. 


THE  duty  of  bringing  up  the  young  in  the  way  of 
usefulness  has  ever  been  acknowledged  as  of  utmost 
importance  to  the  well-being  and  safety  of  a  State. 
So  imperative  was  this  obligation  considered  by  Solon, 
the  Athenian  lawgiver,  that  he  excused  children  from 
maintaining  their  parents,  when  old  and  feeble,  if 
they  had  neglected  to  qualify  them  for  some  useful 
art  or  profession.  Although  this  principle  has  uni- 
versally prevailed  in  every  civilized  age,  yet  the 
success  of  its  practical  operation  depends  entirely  upon 
what  is  understood  by  necessary  knowledge  and  useful 
employment.  If,  as  among  the  Lacedemonians  and 
many  other  nations  of  antiquity,  a  useful  art  consisted 
chiefly  in  the  exploits  of  war,  —  in  being  able  to 
undergo  privations  and  hardships,  and  in  wielding 


successfully  the  heavy  instruments  of  bloodshed,  — 
such  an  education  as  would  conduce  to  the  acquire- 
ment of  that  art  must  be  estimated  on  different 
grounds  from  that  system  whose  object  is  to  develop 
the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties. 

From  the  distant  past,  traditions  have  come  down, 
evincing  in  many  instances  exemplary  care  in  the 
culture  of  youth ;  but  the  conspicuous  record  made  of 
them  by  the  historian  and  poet  refutes  the  idea  that 
they  were  common.  With  the  lapse  of  centuries, 
revolutions  in  the  arts  and  sciences  have  been  effected, 
important  in  themselves,  but  more  so  for  the  changes 
they  have  produced  both  in  social  and  political  affairs. 
Like  hunters  who  discover  in  their  forest-wanderings 
a  valuable  mine  which  shapes  anew  their  course  of  life, 
the  people  of  the  old  world,  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries,  were  allured  from  their  incessant 
conflicts  by  the  more  profitable  arts  of  peace.  Till  then 
the  interests  of  learning  had  been  crushed  by  the 
superstition  and  bigotry  of  the  times.  In  the  four- 
teenth century  even,  the  most  celebrated  university  in 
Europe,  that  of  Bologna,  bestowed  its  chief  honors 
upon  the  professorship  of  astrology.  But  these  grand 
developments  in  art  and  science  gave  a  new  impulse  to 
social  life.  Thenceforward  the  interests  of  education 
began  to  thrive.  The  patronage  given  to  popular  in- 


stmction  by  many  of  the  rulers  of  European  States 
has  imparted  a  lustre  to  their  annals,  which  will 
almost  atone  for  their  heartless  perversion  of  human 
rights.  For  whether  we  consider  the  coercive  system 
of  Prussia,  which  not  yet  exhibits  very  happy  prac- 
tical results ;  or  the  Austrian  system,  which  indirectly 
operates  coercively  by  denying  employment  to  those 
unprovided  with  school-diplomas ;  or  the  Bavarian, 
which  makes  a  certificate  of  six  years'  schooling 
necessary  to  the  contracting  of  a  valid  marriage  or 
apprenticeship ;  or,  indeed,  the  systems  of  many  other 
Continental  countries,  —  we  find  much  to  excite 
cheering  anticipations. 

This  country  —  this  Commonwealth  especially  — 
has  ever  been  distinguished  for  being  foremost  in  the 
maintenance  of  a  benevolent  and  comprehensive 
system  of  education.  That  system  is,  we  believe,  in 
the  judgment  of  foreigners,  one  of  the  most  original 
things  which  America  has  produced.  Fortunately  for 
the  prosperity  of  the  people  who  derive  their  support 
on  this  rugged  soil,  their  fathers  were  a  class  of  men 
deeply  imbued  with  moral  sentiment,  —  lovers  of 
freedom  and  of  knowledge;  men  who  sought  that 
security  of  their  principles  in  the  spread  of  moral 
intelligence,  which  the  sword  alone  would  in  vain 
attempt  to  procure.  "  The  hands  that  wielded  the  axe 


s 


or  guided  the  canoe  in  the  morning  opened  the  page 
of  history  and  philosophy  in  the  evening ; "  and  it 
cannot  be  a  matter  of  surprise,  that,  counting  their 
greatest  wealth  in  their  own  industry  and  resolution, 
they  should  at  an  early  period  turn  their  attention  to 
the  important  subject  of  education;  and  that  they 
even  denied  themselves  many  of  the  comforts  of  life, 
in  order  to  secure  the  blessings  which  might  evolve 
therefrom. 

The  peculiarity  of  our  system  of  government  is, 
that  it  invests  the  sovereignty  in  the  people  ;  and,  as 
it  has  always  been  the  policy  of  every  nation  claiming 
to  be  civilized  to  educate  those  who  were  designed  to 
govern,  it  might  naturally  enough  be  inferred,  that,  in 
this  country,  means  would  be  provided  whereby  the 
whole  people  might  receive  an  education.  And  thus 
it  is.  The  true  object,  therefore,  of  such  a  system  of 
instruction  as  the  government  supports,  it  must  be 
conceded  by  all,  consists  in  qualifying  the  young  to 
become  good  citizens,  —  in  teaching  them  not  only 
what  their  duties  are,  but  making  them  ready  and 
willing  to  perform  them.  We  should  discriminate 
between  the  object  of  common  schools  and  the  object 
of  colleges ;  between  an  institution  intended  to  inform 
every  one  of  what  every  one  should  know,  and  one 
designed  to  fit  persons  for  particular  spheres  of  life, 


by  a  course  of  instruction  which  it  is  impracticable 
for  all  to  pursue.  A  very  large  majority  of  those  who 
enter  our  colleges  are  desirous  of  acquiring  that 
knowledge,  as  well  as  discipline,  which  will  prepare 
them  most  thoroughly  for  some  one  of  the  learned 
professions:  it  is  a  course  preparatory  to  one  still 
higher,  —  a  gateway  by  which  the  industrious  and 
sagacious  may  with  greater  ease  traverse  the  long  and 
winding  avenues  of  science.  Of  a  more  general  nature 
is  the  object  of  that  instruction  provided  by  the  State 
for  all,  because  it  is  designed  to  fit  them  for  a  greater 
variety  of  duties,  and  the  chief  of  these  duties  is  that 
of  living  justly.  If  we  regarded  physical  resources 
as  the  chief  elements  of  prosperity,  or  intellectual 
superiority  the  principal  source  of  national  greatness ; 
if  we  followed  the  theory  of  the  Persian  legislator, 
Zoroaster,  who  thought  that  to  plant  a  tree,  to  culti- 
tivate  a  field,  and  to  have  a  family,  were  the  great 
duties  of  man,  we  might  be  content  with  that  instruc- 
tion which  would  sharpen  the  intellect,  and  furnish 
us  with  acute  and  skilful  men  of  business.  But  an 
enlightened  public  sentiment  rejects  such  a  theory  as 
narrow  and  unsafe.  It  is  surely  of  great  importance 
that  children  should  be  made  familiar  with  the  com- 
mon branches  of  knowledge ;  that  their  minds  should 
receive  as  thorough  discipline  as  is  practicable ;  but 

2 


10 

of  what  transcendent  importance  is  it  that  they  should 
have   impressed  upon  their  minds   the  principles  of 
truth   and  justice,   and   the   true   value   of  resolute, 
earnest  industry;  that  they  should  grow  up  in  the 
love  of  virtue  and  honor,  and  be  taught  to  know  and 
govern  themselves !     Education  of  the  heart,  as  well 
as  education  of  the  mind,  should  be  promoted.     The 
State   should   make   men  before  it  makes   artisans; 
citizens  before  it  makes  statesmen.     And  this  in  theory 
it  proposes  to  do.     The  highest  praise  that  can  be 
bestowed  upon  our  system  of  education,  here  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, is  that  the  leading  object  it  contemplates 
is  the  moral  instruction  of  the  young.     This   is  its 
grand  and  peculiar  feature.     Those  who  have  been 
and  are  now  at  the  head  of  our  educational  interests, 
have  sought,  by  timely  word  and  deed,  to  carry  this 
purpose  into  active  operation.     In  so  doing,  they  have 
attempted  to  give  effect  to  the  law  which  expressly 
ordains  that  "  all  instructors  of  youth  shall  exert  their 
best  endeavors  to  impress  on  the  minds  of  children 
and  youth  committed  to  their  care  and  instruction, 
the  principles  of  piety,  justice,  and  a  sacred  regard  to 
truth,  love  to  their  country,  humanity  and  universal 
benevolence,  sobriety,  industry  and  frugality,  chastity, 
moderation  and  temperance,  and  those  other  virtues 
which  are  the  ornament  of  human  society,  and  the 


11 


basis  upon  which  a  republican  constitution  is  founded ; 
and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  such  instructors  to  endea- 
vor to  lead  their  pupils,  as  their  ages  and  capacities 
will  admit,  into  a  clear  understanding  of  the  ten- 
dency of  the  above-mentioned  virtues."  (Rev.  Stat. 
chap.  23,  §  7.) 

Nobody,  probably,  at  this  day  believes,  that,  in 
cherishing  principles  of  this  nature,  the  law  which 
creates  this  system  is  visionary  or  impracticable.  All 
are  ready  to  admit,  that  the  human  heart  needs  the 
influence  of  moral  discipline.  Yet  such  is  the  nature 
of  our  social  existence  that  there  is  a  great  tendency 
to  postpone  its  application,  —  to  let  it  depend  upon 
contingencies.  When  nearly  all  of  the  good  or  evil 
that  we  can  possibly  do  has  been  done,  —  after  temp- 
tations have  been  resisted  or  yielded  to,  —  after  our 
years  begin  to  wane,  we  then  think  seriously  of  moral 
improvement.  Preachers  the  most  eloquent  —  for 
their  eloquence  commands  the  highest  reward  —  we 
employ  to  exhort  us  to  practise  virtues,  which,  if  we 
had  been  rightly  educated,  we  should  have  practised 
from  our  earliest  youth  with  as  much  facility  as  we 
read  or  write.  If  a  child  is  to  learn  grammar,  let 
him  commence,  every  one  will  say,  when  young,  while 
his  memory  is  most  retentive.  If  we  are  to  teach  him 
those  principles  which  are  to  shape  his  destiny  in  life, 


12 


and  have  their  home  in  the  heart,  should  we  wait  till 
it  is  least  susceptible  of  impression  1  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  too  much  indifference  prevails  on  this 
subject.  We  are  apt  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  evils 
which  arise  from  imperfect  education,  so  long  as  they 
do  not  affect  our  personal  interest.  Victims  of  de- 
praved appetites  and  passions  we  take  charge  of,  not 
out  of  regard  for  them,  or  the  circumstances  which 
have  induced  their  guilt,  but  for  our  own  protection. 
When  a  man  sunk  in  crime  is  held  up  to  public  gaze, 
nearly  the  same  feeling  is  excited  which  actuates  boys 
who  follow  with  noisy  jests  a  drunken  woman.  Barely 
do  we  stop  to  inquire,  why,  if  wrong  influences  had 
been  brought  to  bear  upon  our  characters,  we  should 
not  have  been  as  bad.  Unless  such  instruction  be 
promoted,  many  who  are  now  unconcerned  for  the 
misfortunes  of  others  will  themselves  ask  for  com- 
passion. "  Surely  there  will  come  a  time,"  says  Dr. 
Johnson  with  truthful  energy,  "  when  he  who  laughs 
at  wickedness  in  his  companion  shall  start  from  it  in 
his  child" 

Now,  the  only  sure  and  legitimate  way  of  reforming 
those  evils  which  burden  society  is  to  prevent  their 
acquiring  any  existence.  It  is  a  favorite  notion  with 
many,  that,  by  checking  vice  here  and  there,  our  bene- 
volent institutions  are  working  a  thorough  cure.  But 


this  is  not  so.  While  we  furnish  subsistence  to  those 
whom  intemperance  and  idleness  have  brought  to 
destitution,  —  while  we  erect  asylums  where  reason 
may  be  restored  to  the  shattered  mind,  —  while  we 
enlarge  prisons  in  which  to  punish  the  violators  of 
the  law,  —  we  should  remember  that  some  endeavors 
should  be  made  to  prevent  others  from  requiring  the 
same  charities,  and  incurring  the  same  penalties.  In- 
stead of  standing  merely  by  the  fatal  shoal  to  rescue 
the  sinking  crew,  we  should  raise  a  warning  signal  to 
avert  future  shipwrecks. 

All  experience  shows  that,  to  operate  successfully, 
this  branch  of  education  must  be  early  attended  to. 
True  it  is,  that,  just  as  '  the  twig  is  bent,  the  tree's 
inclined ; '  and  true  it  is,  that  on  the  discipline  of  child- 
hood depends  the  moral  character  of  manhood.  The 
tree  in  the  forest,  after  it  has  grown  to  a  considerable 
height,  may  yet  be  bent  from  its  natural  course,  and, 
by  long-continued  force,  be  made  to  grow  in  a  differ- 
ent direction ;  but  that  change  will  not  be  permanent. 
When  the  power  which  turned  its  course  is  withdrawn, 
every  breeze  and  every  tempest  that  shake  its  branches 
will  aid  it  in  gradually  assuming  its  original  position, 
till  hardly  a  trace  of  that  power  which  attempted  to 
guide  its  growth  can  be  perceived.  There  may  be  some 
who  would  neglect  that  moral  influence  on  the  young 


14 

which  is  necessary,  trusting  in  the  delusive  expecta- 
tion, that  the  law  will  keep  them  in  the  right  path ; 
that  the  example  of  punishment,  the  terror  of  the 
gallows,  the  prison,  or  the  penitentiary,  will  prevent 
the  commission  of  crime.  But  let  us  not  wait  for  the 
saving  influence  of  these  things ;  for  they  are  but 
checks  which  often  render  the  next  outbreak  more 
alarming.  The  force  of  punishment  will  be  found  to 
resemble  the  application  of  power  in  changing  the 
growth  of  the  tree :  weeks,  years  of  confinement,  will 
not  effect  a  complete  reformation  in  the  offender.  His 
life  may  seem  to  be  changed,  his  habits  reformed ;  but, 
as  he  goes  out  to  mingle  again  with  the  world,  as  one 
occasion  after  another  presents  itself  to  him,  his  former 
passions  begin  to  revive,  those  early  impressions  take 
possession  of  him,  and  he  becomes  the  same  that  he 
was  originally,  only  that  his  degraded  position  renders 
him  far  less  able  to  resist  the  temptation  to  do  wrong. 
Impressions  and  habits  acquired  in  youth  are  prover- 
bially lasting.  With  characteristic  eloquence  and 
fervor  has  Lord  Brougham  illustrated  the  peculiar 
importance  of  early  training.  In  a  Speech  delivered 
in  the  House  of  Lords  in  1835  upon  one  of  those 
measures  which  have  conferred  so  much  glory  on  his 
name  as  well  as  benefit  upon  his  countrymen,  he  said, 
"If  at  a  very  early  age  a  system  of  instruction  is 


15 


pursued  by  which  a  certain  degree  of  independent 
feeling  is  created  in  the  child's  mind,  while  all  muti- 
nous and  perverse  disposition  is  avoided,  —  if  this 
system  be  followed  up  by  a  constant  instruction  in  the 
principles  of  virtue,  and  a  corresponding  advancement 
in  intellectual  pursuits,  —  if,  during  the  most  critical 
years  of  his  life,  his  understanding  and  his  feelings  are 
accustomed  only  to  sound  principles  and  pure  and 
innocent  impressions,  it  will  become  almost  impossible 
that  he  should  afterward  take  to  vicious  courses,  be- 
cause these  will  be  utterly  alien  to  the  whole  nature 
of  his  being.  It  will  be  as  difficult  for  him  to  become 
criminal,  because  as  foreign  to  his  confirmed  habits,  as 
it  would  be  for  one  of  your  lordships  to  go  out  and 
rob  on  the  highway.  Thus,  to  commence  the  education 
of  youth  at  the  tender  age  on  which  I  have  laid  so 
much  stress,  will,  I  feel  confident,  be  the  same  means 
of  guarding  society  against  crimes.  I  trust  every 
thing  to  habit,  —  habit,  upon  which,  in  all  ages,  the 
lawgiver,  as  well  as  the  schoolmaster,  has  mainly  placed 
his  reliance,  —  habit,  which  makes  every  thing  easy, 
and  casts  all  difficulties  upon  the  deviation  from  the 
wonted  course.  Make  sobriety  a  habit,  and  intem- 
perance will  be  hateful  and  hard ;  make  prudence  a 
habit,  and  reckless  profligacy  will  be  as  contrary  to 
the  nature  of  the  child,  grown  an  adult,  as  the  most 


16 

atrocious  crimes  are  to  any  of  your  lordships.  Give  a 
child  the  habit  of  sacredly  regarding  truth,  of  care- 
fully respecting  the  property  of  others,  of  scrupulously 
abstaining  from  all  acts  of  improvidence  which  can 
involve  him  in  distress,  and  he  will  just  as  little  think 
of  lying  or  cheating  or  stealing,  or  running  in  debt, 
as  of  rushing  into  an  element  in  which  he  cannot 
breathe." 

The  thought  may  strike  some,  however,  that  chil- 
dren can  receive  moral  discipline  at  home ;  that 
parents  are  best  enabled  to  understand  the  disposition 
of  their  children,  and  can  consequently  apply  the 
requisite  training  with  more  success  than  any  one  else ; 
and,  most  of  all,  because  it  is  their  especial  duty  so  to 
do.  So  we  might  say,  with  almost  as  much  reason, 
that  parents  could  teach  their  children  the  elementary 
branches  of  knowledge ;  in  the  first  place,  because  it 
is  in  their  province  to  know  the  peculiar  turn  of  mind 
possessed  by  their  children,  and  also  for  the  equally 
plausible  reason,  that  they  are  under  a  great  obligation 
to  educate  them.  Now,  there  is  much  truth  in  the 
observation  of  Seneca's,  that  people  carry  their  neigh- 
bors' faults  in  a  bag  before  them,  which  are  easily  to 
be  seen,  and  their  own  behind  them  unseen ;  and, 
without  doing  parents  too  much  injustice,  we  may  say 
that  they  are  inclined  to  carry  the  failings  of  their 


17 

children  tied  up  with  their  own.  The  fact  is,  generally 
speaking,  parents  are  so  confident  that  their  children 
do  not  lack  in  honesty  and  integrity,  at  a  time  when 
these  principles  should  be  forcibly  impressed  upon 
them,  that  they  let  the  occasion  for  moral  training 
pass  until  bad  habits  are  deeply  rooted  in  their  char- 
acter. There  are,  we  know,  many  cheering  exceptions  ; 
yet,  if  moral  instruction  is  neglected  in  the  school,  to 
a  majority  of  the  scholars  that  neglect  will  nowhere 
be  provided  for,  until  some  bad  results  have  ensued. 

To  carry  out,  then,  the  primal  purpose  of  our  sys- 
tem of  education,  instructors  should  seek  to  mould 
the  character  of  their  pupils.  Supervisors  and  com- 
mittee-men should  require  a  faithful  discharge  of  this 
trust.  When  they  come  to  examine  the  school,  if 
the  standard  of  intellectual  attainments  is  not  so  high 
as  might  be  desirable,  they  should  yet  bear  testimony 
to  its  advancement,  if  they  find  that  those  "  virtues 
which  adorn  life "  have  been  held  up  in  all  their 
attractiveness  to  the  imitation  of  the  pupil. 

Thus  have  we  seen  that  the  system  itself  contem- 
plates the  culture  of  the  heart  as  well  as  the  mind ; 
and  that  it  is  wise,  practical,  and  just  in  doing  so. 
We  now  propose  to  show  that  this  object  is  generally 
disregarded,  if  not  entirely  lost  sight  of,  in  our  com- 
mon schools ;  and  to  illustrate,  if  possible,  the  means 

5 


18 

whereby  it  can  be  more  completely  carried  into  ope- 
ration. In  the  first  place,  the  present  state  of  society 
testifies  to  a  neglect  somewhere  of  inculcating  habits 
of  rectitude.  There  is  a  want  of  CONSCIENCE  in  the 
community.  The  prevalence  of  crime,  as  seen  by 
the  returns  of  public  prosecutors  and  magistrates,  is 
but  a  small  part  of  the  evidence  of  this  fact.  We 
might  as  well  judge  of  a  man's  wealth  by  his  dress, 
as  to  form  an  opinion  on  public  morals  by  the  number 
of  punishable  offences  committed.  And,  indeed,  the 
records  of  courts  furnish  but  incomplete  evidence  of 
the  number  of  punishable  offences  actually  committed ; 
for  where  one  criminal  is  brought  to  the  bar  of  justice, 
ten  escape  detection.  We  have  the  authority  of  a 
very  eminent  Judge  for  this  remark.  But  there  are 
wrongs  which  are  not  punishable  by  the  law,  being 
too  small  and  undefinable  for  its  cognizance.  It 
is  the  bad  faith  which  enters  into  contracts,  and 
deceives  the  honest  purchaser,  or  dupes  the  confiding 
vendor ;  the  baseness  which  conspires  to  wink  down 
credit ;  the  avarice  which  greedily  takes  advantage  of 
poverty,  or  the  craft  which  converts  it  into  a  weapon 
of  fraud ;  the  scandal  which  sets  neighbor  against 
neighbor  ;  the  fretful  harshness  which  clouds  the 
domestic  fireside ;  the  ingratitude  which  spurns 
parental  influence  ;  the  selfishness  which  would  trade 


19 


in  principles,  and  bargain  away  public  measures  for 
private  gain,  —  these,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  con- 
clusive proofs  of  public  vice.  Even  the  deplorable 
appearances  which  penury  exhibits  are  counterfeited, 
and  we  hesitate  to  give  alms  lest  we  should  encourage 
an  impostor.  The  benevolent  man  distrusts  the  beg- 
gar who  asks  for  a  night's  lodging,  and  turns  him 
away,  fearful  that  he  might  prove  an  assassin  or  a 
robber ;  or  he  reluctantly  calls  him  back,  lest  he 
should  revenge  himself  by  burning  his  barn.  There 
are  common  symptoms  which  show  a  patient's  sick- 
ness, though  they  do  not  indicate  the  particular  nature 
of  his  disease.  So  this  mutual  distrust,  which  charac- 
terizes the  dealings  of  men,  indicates  the  debility  of 
public  morals,  and  points  with  unerring  certainty  to 
the  neglect  of  early  discipline. 

But  an  inspection  of  the  schools  will  afford  us  the 
most  reliable  evidence  on  this  subject.  From  the  sys- 
tem of  instruction  now  pursued  in  our  best  common 
schools,  a  scholar  of  ordinary  capacity  is  enabled  to 
become  a  good  reader,  writer,  and  speller ;  to  acquire 
a  very  good  knowledge  of  geography  and  arithmetic, 
and  a  little  insight  into  natural  philosophy,  physio- 
logy, grammar,  and  history,  as  well  as  to  gain  some 
habits  of  order  and  correct  deportment.  It  is  true  also 
that  in  some  schools  considerable  efforts  are  bestowed 


20 


on  moral  culture  :  this,  however,  depends  upon  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  teacher.  Yet  it  cannot  be 
denied,  that  intellectual  improvement  is  treated  as 
of  paramount  importance ;  and  that,  if  any  attempts 
are  made  at  moral  training,  they  are  purely  inciden- 
tal; being  considered  collateral  to  the  other  lessons. 
Surely  no  one  will  think  of  reproaching  teachers  for 
this  condition  of  things ;  for  they  are  governed  by  the 
public  opinion  of  the  district  or  town  they  teach  in, 
as  much  as  the  statesman  is  governed  by  the  public 
opinion  of  the  country.  The  voice  of  the  district  is 
silent  on  the  subject.  The  committee  who  examined 
or  engaged  them  did  not  allude  to  that  part  of  their 
duty,  or  inquire  into  their  qualifications  for  dis- 
charging it.  If  the  teacher  goes  through  the  term 
in  harmony,  and  succeeds  in  advancing  his  pupils  in 
an  ordinary  degree  in  the  common  branches,  he  is 
acknowledged  to  have  accomplished  his  entire  duty. 

In  attempting  to  show  the  manner  in  which  the 
right  development  of  character  may  be  blended  with 
the  development  of  the  mental  faculties,  it  might  be 
proper  to  advert  to  the  method  a  teacher  could  pursue 
with  the  greatest  success.  A  very  imperfect  idea  only 
of  any  policy  can  be  given,  inasmuch  as  the  duty  must 
be  left  to  his  own  discretion.  No  set  plan  can  be 
adhered  to  ;  neither  could  text-books  be  used  to 


21 


advantage.  He  should  not  have  an  appointed  time 
for  such  an  exercise,  nor  resort  to  formal  lectures,  nor 
rely  upon  the  studied  maxims  which  moralists  have 
framed  in  the  closet,  nor  depend  upon  the  stereotyped 
precepts  of  philosophers.  As  the  sentiments  he  in- 
culcates are  addressed  to  the  heart,  so  also  from  the 
heart  should  they  spring.  Every  one  knows  that  the 
events  which  transpire  in  and  about  the  school-room 
furnish  too  frequent  opportunities  for  this  species  of 
instruction.  These  acts  of  turpitude  he  should  heed, 
and  make  the  subject  of  his  lessons.  Report  comes  to 
him  that  some  of  his  pupils  have  been  guilty  of  iusult- 
ing  and  ridiculing  an  aged  and  infirm  person.  He 
might  give  them  time  to  reflect  upon  the  nature  of 
their  act,  and  to  decide  themselves  whether  it  was 
right  or  wrong.  Then  let  him  show  the  claims  which 
age,  combined  with  feebleness,  has  upon  our  respect 
and  sympathy,  and  expose  the  cruelty  and  shame  of 
that  conduct  which  would  increase  its  misfortunes. 
He  learns,  perhaps,  that  a  pupil  has  used  profane 
language  during  an  intermission.  As  he  requires  the 
school  to  pause,  let  him  speak  in  simple  language  of 
the  omnipotence  and  omnipresence  of  the  Creator ; 
of  the  commandment  which  he  has  ordained,  that 
none  should  take  his  name  in  vain.  By  referring  to 
some  of  the  faculties,  mental  and  physical,  with  which 


22 


he  has  been  endowed,  let  the  teacher  call  forth  the 
gratitude,  not  only  of  that  pupil  but  the  whole  school, 
for    the    wonderful   goodness   of    their   Maker.     By 
reminding  them  of  his  compassion  and  tenderness,  his 
infinite  wisdom  and  power,  let  him  inspire  them  with 
love  and  reverence  for  his  name.     Envy  and  jealousy 
he  will  see  prominent  in  the  character  of  his  fairest 
pupils :  let  him  show  that  the  heart  was  not  made  for 
such  feelings ;    that,  if  they  are  nurtured  there,  no 
room  will  be  found  for  noble  and  generous  sentiments. 
Quarrels  will  occur  in  which   blows  will   be   dealt 
lustily :  a  few  simple  illustrations  will  prove  that  force 
is  a  dangerous  and  imperfect  arbiter  of  justice.     If 
unhappily  falsehood  prevails,  let  him  make  haste  to 
supplant  a  habit,  so  fearful  and  pernicious,  though 
every  thing  else  be  laid  aside.     Let  him  show  the  great 
inconvenience  a  man  must  experience  in  whose  word 
no  confidence  can  be  reposed.     The  fable  of  the  shep- 
herd-boy who  gave  false  alarms  to  the  distant  workmen 
of  the  approach  of  wolves,  so  that  when  the  wolves 
really  came  his  cries  were  in  vain,  will  show  that  lying 
is  unprofitable  in  the  end.     But  his  chief  object  should 
be  to  exhibit  the  moral  turpitude  of  the  habit,  —  the 
facility  with   which  it   leads  to  deeper   guilt,  —  the 
manifold  evils  which  it  engenders  in  the  community ; 
and  thus  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  his  pupils  a 


sacred  regard  for  truth.  Such,  it  might  seem,  would 
be  the  course  which  a  high-minded  and  zealous  teacher 
would  pursue  in  imparting  moral  instruction.  But, 
whatever  be  his  method,  it  is  quite  certain  that  a  suc- 
cessful performance  of  his  duty  in  this  respect  implies 
great  capacity.  Extensive  learning  will  not  be  a 
sufficient  qualification.  An  accurate  and  comprehen- 
sive knowledge  of  the  sciences  may  have  given  vigor 
to  his  mind ;  he  may  be  familiar  with  the  classic  pages 
of  Thucydides  and  Homer,  Horace  and  Livy ;  he  may 
be  versed  in  the  philosophy  of  history,  and  yet  lack 
in  the  essential  elements  of  his  art.  He  must  possess 
native  talent,  a  clear  insight  of  human  character, 
agreeable  address,  extemporaneous  powers  of  speech. 
He  must  be  a  clear-thinking,  conscientious,  practical 
man ;  and  it  will  be  impossible  for  him  to  fail  in  his 
undertaking.  Such  a  teacher  will  win  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  his  pupils:  they  will  imitate  his  example, 
and  cherish  his  counsel. 

Now,  the  inquiry  will  naturally  be  made  if  the 
teachers  of  common  schools  have  these  qualifications. 
There  are  some  who  are  thus  qualified.  They  are 
those  who  in  other  professions  would  rise  to  eminence 
by  the  zeal  and  ability  with  which  they  now  advance 
our  youth  in  intellectual  culture.  But  they  are  an 
exception  to  the  common  standard.  The  majority  of 


24 


teachers,  however,  are  quite  young.  They  are  prepar- 
ing themselves  for  other  duties,  which  they  consider 
more  important  to  their  own  interests,  if  not  the  in- 
terests of  the  public.  Not  experienced  sufficiently  in 
their  art  to  excel  in  its  ordinary  labors,  they  do  not 
stand  far  enough  above  their  pupils  to  succeed  in  this 
higher  and  more  difficult  branch  of  instruction. 

Before,  then,  moral  education  can  be  successfully 
promoted,  the  right  kind  of  teachers  must  be  employed. 
There  is  but  one  way  of  obtaining  them,  and  that  is 
by  paying  them  liberal  salaries.     All  are  not  philan- 
thropists.    Here  and  there,  it  is  true,  may  be  found 
persons  disinterested  enough  to  devote  their  energies 
to  the  public  good,  for  their  daily  bread  alone.     But 
it  is  the  height  of  absurdity  to  expect  that  men  of 
talent  and  learning  will  continue  in  so  arduous  an 
occupation  as  that  of  teaching  for  small  compensation, 
when  in  less  laborious  pursuits  they  can  acquire  opu- 
lence.    The  average  pay  received  by  male  teachers 
throughout  the  Commonwealth,  as  appears  from  the 
last  annual  report  of  the  learned  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  is  $37.26  per  month.     The  aver- 
age length  of  schools  being  seven  months  and  a  half, 
the  yearly  salary  of  the  teacher  would  therefore  be 
$279.45  ;  out  of  which  he  must  pay  for  his  board  and 
all  other  expenses.     Hardly  adequate  to  support  one 


man  respectably,  it  entirely  excludes  the  circumstance 
of  his  having  a  family,  implying  a  self-denial  of  the 
common  uses  of  social  life.     The  natural  presumption 
is,  that  a  teacher  is  not  exempt  from  the  calamities 
that  sometimes  befall  men ;  that  he  buys  a  few  books 
and  a  little  stationary ;  that  he  is  as  unwilling  as  any 
one  to  wear  ragged  clothes ;  and,  uncertain  of  con- 
tinued employment  in  one  place,  that  he  incurs  some 
expense  in  changing  his  locality.     But  the  standard 
price  which  he  receives  ignores  any  such  presumption. 
In  regard  to  the  payment  of  female  teachers,  we  might 
suppose  that  a  different  rule  would  prevail ;    that  in 
a  community  where  woman  holds  a  high  moral,  social, 
and  intellectual  position,  —  where  marked  deference 
is  paid  to  her  character,  —  where  the  great  superiority 
of  her  influence  as  a  parent  and  a  teacher  is  acknow- 
ledged, —  one  might  indeed  suppose  that  she  would 
be  liberally  rewarded  for  her  services,  especially  when 
those  services  are  rendered  in  her  peculiar  sphere  of 
duty,  —  that  of  teaching.     Strange  as  it  may  appear, 
such  is  not  the  case;    while  her  labor,  apparently 
not  so  responsible,  is  often  more  wearing  than  the 
labor  of  the  schoolmaster.     It  seems  that  the  average 
pay  of  female  teachers  is  $15.36  per  month.     When 
it  is  remembered  that  all  the  expenses  of  living  are  to 
be  deducted  from  the  amount  paid  at  this  rate,  her 


26 

real  income  shrinks  into  the  merest  trifle.  There  is 
not  an  occupation  in  which  intelligent  young  women 
can  be  employed  that  does  not  present  greater  pecu- 
niary inducements.  Under  such  circumstances  it  must 
be  a  matter  of  surprise  that  we  have  as  good  teachers, 
both  male  and  female,  as  now  have  charge  of  our 
schools.  Will  any  one,  then,  for  a  moment  suppose 
that  persons  of  greater  ability  than  they  will  be  in- 
duced to  engage  or  continue  in  such  an  employment, 
when  wealth  and  influence  and  happiness  point  in 
another  direction "?  Laying  aside  suppositions,  let  us 
see  what  the  facts  are.  With  the  majority  of  those 
now  engaged  in  the  business,  teaching  is  a  temporary 
employment.  Some  are  teaching  during  their  college 
vacations,  intending,  as  soon  as  they  graduate,  to  com- 
mence their  professional  studies ;  —  they  are  perhaps 
our  future  judges,  or  clergymen,  or  sagacious  mer- 
chants ;  others  are  already  abandoning  the  business 
to  enter  upon  mercantile  pursuits.  As  soon  as  they 
have  acquired  experience,  so  that  their  services  are 
truly  valuable  to  the  public,  they  find  that  their  future 
prospects  are  to  be  sacrificed  if  they  continue  longer 
in  the  profession.  Thus,  instead  of  retaining  persons 
in  this  most  important  of  all  professions,  we  drive  them 
out  of  it  to  adorn  and  exalt  other  occupations.  Many 
of  the  ablest  men  in  each  of  our  learned  professions 


27 


were  once  school-teachers:  if  a  proper  reward  had 
encouraged  them  to  remain  in  that  capacity,  how  visi- 
ble at  this  day  would  be  the  influence  which  they 
would  have  exerted  upon  their  pupils !  It  is  clear, 
then,  that  the  only  means  by  which  we  can  retain 
teachers  who  have  the  requisite  talent  and  ability,  is 
by  paying  them  adequate  salaries.  Then  our  schools 
can  furnish  moral  as  well  as  intellectual  instruction  ; 
and  the  object  which  our  system  of  education  contem- 
plates can  in  a  great  degree  be  accomplished. 

Fully  aware  that  the  people  are  peculiarly  sensitive 
on  the  subject  of  taxation,  especially  when  no  tangible 
results  are  to  follow  its  increase,  we  do  not  hesitate  to 
say  that  the  interests  of  education  demand  a  far  greater 
expenditure  of  money.  The  spirit  which  has  charac- 
terized the  people  of  the  Commonwealth,  in  their  past 
efforts  to  advance  the  cause,  promises  favorable  action 
on  the  subject.  In  an  age  when  astonishing  improve- 
ments in  every  art  and  every  science  are  being  deve- 
loped, —  when  nature,  in  her  most  regal  and  opposing 
state,  bends  to  the  energy  of  man,  —  when  countless 
sums  are  lavished  to  gratify  and  satiate  every  sense, 
how  mortifying  and  discreditable  that  a  great  moral 
cause  should  languish!  Even  if  the  contribution 
which  would  be  required  for  this  purpose  could  in 
any  way  be  felt  by  the  poorest  citizen,  it  could  not  be 


28 


felt  as  a  burden ;  for  he  might  regard  it  as  an  invest- 
ment the  most  profitable  and  secure,  —  the  income 
\>f  which  would  return  to  his  own  door  full  of  bless- 
ings upon  his  declining  days.  When  solicited  to 
double  the  tax  which  he  had  formerly  paid  for  school- 
purposes,  regarding  his  own  interest  merely,  and  not 
that  of  the  public,  he  might  sincerely  say,  "  Yes,  out 
of  my  limited  means  I  am  content  to  pay  freely  for 
such  an  object.  By  paying  the  teacher  more,  am  I 
not  increasing  his  usefulness "?  Am  I  not  doing  some- 
thing to  bring  up  my  children  in  knowledge  and 
integrity'?  Will  they  not  be  a  greater  comfort  to 
me,  and  more  happy  and  prosperous  themselves "?  Be- 
sides, in  a  few  years,  much  mischief  in  the  community 
may  be  diminished,  and  there  will  be  a  smaller  tax  on 
me  and  mine  to  support  criminals  and  prisons.  If 
all  are  taught  to  do  their  duty  as  citizens,  I  shall  not 
suffer  for  their  neglect  of  doing  so."  Though  the  cor- 
rectness of  his  reasoning  will  be  admitted,  the  argument 
in  this  behalf  should  be  placed  on  higher  grounds 
than  individual  prosperity.  The  benefits  to  be  derived 
by  the  public  as  exhibited  in  the  abatement  of  many 
social  evils,  —  in  the  diffusion  of  rational  happiness, 
—  in  the  gains  of  honest  industry,  such  should  be  the 
inducements  to  this  worthy  undertaking. 

In  conclusion,  we  submit  that  for  reasons  too  appa- 


29 


rent  to  be  alluded  to,  and  too  urgent  to  be  disregarded, 
more  attention  should  be  devoted  to  the  true  aim  and 
purpose  of  education,  —  to  a  more  complete  operation 
of  the  system.  More  than  the  past  has  needed,  will 
the  future  require  the  benefits  which  it  unfolds.  Let 
the  teacher's  vocation  be  elevated,  and  advantages  will 
accrue  to  the  State,  compared  with  which,  exuberant 
harvests,  a  thriving  commerce,  and  an  overflowing  trea- 
sury, will  be  but  small  resources.  We  should  form  a 
wise  and  generous  precedent  in  this  matter,  below 
which  indifference  will  not  suffer  us  to  fall.  We 
should  engage  in  the  enterprise  with  a  determina- 
tion to  carry  it  forward  to  the  highest  degree  of  success. 
It  may  be  "  absurd  to  expect,  but  it  is  not  absurd  to 
pursue,  perfection." 


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